Stranger Things Have Happened
by cupcakesandlovefests
Summary: A chance meeting at the start of their lonely summers changes things. Puck and Rachel quickly become 'bros' and could Quinn and Rachel have feelings for each other?
1. Chapter 1

To say Puck and Rachel hadn't planned on hanging out together was an understatement, hanging out with each other was pretty much the last thing they thought they'd end up doing over their summer vacation. Yet here they were spending pretty much all their time together.

It was mostly due to boredom, but also because they were both sort of lacking in the friendship department. Not to mention a lot of the Gleeks had gone away with their families or were at summer camps. Finn and Quinn were still together meaning Puck didn't get to spend time with his 'number one bro' and well, Rachel had completely given up on Finn and didn't want anything to do with him outside of Glee Club.

After spending a few days by themselves they were completely and utterly bored, not even Rachel's strict vocal exercising could keep her entertained enough. She was becoming restless and her dad's were already tiring of her sitting around the house with what they called bouncing leg syndrome.

She decided to go for a walk in the park not too far from her house, and that's when she bumped into Puck.

He was tossing a football back and forth with a girl who appeared to be his sibling; Rachel smiled and quietly approached them.

"Hi Noah" she said nervously, he turned around and greeted her with a smile.

"Sup, Berry. You want in?"

Rachel bit her lip and considered turning down the invitation, purely because it would show a side of her that hadn't really been seen by anyone else, she shrugged her shoulders before offering him a smile. She threw her jacket to the ground before offering up her hands, "let's play".

Puck took it upon himself to try and challenge the two girls, and while Jenny, his sister, was younger than Rachel by four years they were almost the same height.

He didn't go easy on them, grinning as Jenny held up her hands to regain her breath.

"You know what Puckerman, how about you get a sweat on?" Rachel said bounding over to take the ball from his hands.

"Alright" he said jogging back to near where Jenny was, Rachel shook her head.

"Go longer" she urged as she passed the pigskin between her hands and he scoffed.

"Please"

Without warning Rachel threw her arm back and sent the ball launching through the air, Puck gaped slightly before racing after it, he jumped and it sailed past him still. He picked the ball up in complete shock and headed back to the girls, his sister was sat in the grass laughing at his expression.

"How the hell do you know how to throw a spiral like that?" he asked.

Rachel chuckled, "there's a lot people don't know about me, Noah"

"Can you receive as well as you toss?" he smirked at his double entendre.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "I'm going to ignore your obvious attempt at sexual connotation seeing as your kid sister is metres away from us, and maybe. Care to make this interesting?" she smiled; she never could pass up the opportunity for a wager.

"Always, Berry. If I win you gotta stop calling me Noah"

"Done deal, and if I win?" she asked.

Puck looked thoughtful for a second. "If you win I'll never tell Quinn about your crush on her"

Rachel felt like her jaw was going to hit the floor.

"What?" she squeaked. "That's ridiculous! We hate each other, I, you-" She grew flustered and Puck smirked at the reaction he was getting out of her.

"You need to work on those acting skills, babe"

Rachel glared and folded her arms. "Fine, but if I win I want you to run around the park with me on your shoulders"

Puck laughed at her childish side coming out to play. "You got it, Jen you ready?"

Jenny grabbed the pigskin and tried hold back a laugh at the sight of the pair, both with determined expressions as they readied themselves to run.

The first throw didn't go too far out and Puck caught it way too easily. The second was a little further and Puck almost pouted as Rachel just beat him to the catch. The third was a throw to almost rival Rachel's and the pair chased down the ball like their lives depended on it. They both descended on the ball at almost the same time and before they knew what was happening Rachel had jumped onto Puck's back to make up for the height disadvantage and they both had a hand on the ball at the same time.

Rachel dropped to the ground still clinging to the ball and Jenny was all but peeing herself as she rolled around on the ground clutching her side at the sight of her older brother and his much shorter friend in a face off over a damn football.

"I had it first"

"We touched it at the same time!"

"You wouldn't of if you hadn't jumped on my back!"

"Quit being a sore loser"

Jenny couldn't believe that as an almost thirteen year old she was having to be the voice of reason.

"Guys, call it a draw" she told them calmly as she yanked the ball away from them.

"But what about the wager?" Rachel pouted and Jenny smiled but rolled her eyes.

"Call him Puck, he'll keep your secret, everybody wins and we take the fabulous kid sister for ice cream?" she suggested.

Puck chuckled and ruffled his sister's hair slightly, "you got it Jen, you feel like some ice cream, Berry?"

"Do they have Vegan ice cream?"

"I'm sure they do, but you'll just have to come with us and find out" he winked and Rachel smiled following them to Puck's truck.

They did have Vegan ice cream, and it was the best Rachel had ever had.

After that day they were pretty much inseparable. They'd played basketball and Rachel was pretty good on the court too, and Puck wasn't complaining at the sight of her legs in the shorts she chose to play in. She was a gracious loser too, and she didn't cry like he'd thought she might when he accidentally knocked her and she fell,ending up with bloody knees.

They tried baseball, Rachel was a great pitcher but for some reason she just couldn't bat. She chose to watch as Puck and Jenny alternated batting and she cheered them on enthusiastically waving imaginary pom poms.

"I thought you had a thing for cheerleaders I didn't know you wanted to be one" Puck called out jokingly. That was the first time he saw Rachel Berry flip the bird.

They fell into a nice routine. Alternating between houses for meals, the Berry men grew fond of Puck now they realized he wasn't trying to get into their daughter's pants and Rachel had quickly gotten close with Puck's mom, Dana, the fact that Rachel was also a Jew was merely a bonus.

"I swear I'm never gonna get the hang of this" Rachel sighed as Puck beat her yet again at Guitar Hero, she swore her fingers were going numb they'd been playing that song for so long. Dragonforce, she hadn't heard of them.

"No giving up fellow hot Jew, you'll get the hang of it, I'm just an expert" Puck smiled as he shrugged out of the guitar strap.

"I think I might have better luck playing a real guitar" the brunette said as she threw herself back on Puck's bed.

"That can be arranged, but not right now. We gotta eat, mom's cooking and is demanding you stay to try it. I gotta say hanging with you has definitely got me back in her good books and Jen enjoys having you here too"

Rachel smiled as his honesty, she'd become really fond of the Puckermans too.

"I love being here. I never thought we'd end up spending time together like this but I'm glad we are, we've got a good thing going here Puck"

"We sure do, and I like knowing I'm not doing it to get in to your pants. Not that I'd be opposed-" Rachel gave him a playful smack, "but I like this. We're sort of..bro's"

She raised an eyebrow, "bro's?"

"Yeah! You're a girl yet you don't suck all the fun out of the stuff I like doing like playing sports and shooting people up on my XBOX. On top of that I've found out you're a fucking awesome cook, your dad's actually like me AND your bi so we get to talk about hott chicks all the time!"

The brunette chuckled.

"Yeah, you're right, we're bro's"

"Actually, we're not"

Rachel frowned, "you can't just take it back!"

Puck laughed. "We can't officially be bro's until you give me a fist bump"

Rachel narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "that sounds suspiciously dirty,Puckerman,I swear-"

Puck grabbed her fist and closed it before showing her how to bump it with his.

"I'm not completely x rated y'know, that's your own mind at work. That was a fist bump, you got it?"

Rachel nodded before doing it again by herself this time.

"So we're officially bro's now?"

"Yep. I never thought I'd say it but Rachel Berry, you're my number one bro"


	2. Chapter 2

Quinn Fabray wasn't having the summer she'd wanted. Her mother was driving her crazy with the constant string of people at her house and Finn wasn't helping with things at all. Her boyfriend was seemingly less there than usual, at first she'd put it down to boredom but even as she put in the effort to try to enjoy the things he did it was becoming increasingly obvious that they really weren't supposed to be together at all.

They'd gone to a theme park and Finn had somehow convinced Quinn to get over her fear of rollercoasters by riding the biggest one in the park.

"I'm here, Quinn, nothing will happen. You'll be fine, you can even hold my hand if you want" he'd told her a toothy grin. She'd smiled back and let him lead her to the ride, she looked up and gulped. She was Quinn Fabray, she could handle a rollercoaster, she could handle anything.

She really couldn't. She was terrified as they descended on the first of the five loops and she reached for Finn's hand, he ignored her desperate clutching and flung their arms in the air making Quinn scream even louder, he obviously mistook her shrieks of fear for enjoyment and he refused to let her put her arms down for the entire ride.

As soon as they got off the ride, Quinn had somehow managed to get to the nearest trashcan before throwing up into it. Finn didn't hold back her hair or rub her hair as she wretched repeatedly; he just stood there trying not to look embarrassed as people went by.

The blonde had convinced him to join her mother for dinner but it was a disaster. He was way too nervous, which was understandable giving what had happened the last time he'd been around Judy Fabray but his ignorant silence as her mother made the effort to talk to him made her grit her teeth to keep from saying something.

It was at the mention of Rachel's name that things had blown up.

"Are you really bringing her up right now? God, Finn, I try so damn hard with you, I'm not Rachel Berry!"

"Well maybe that's the problem!" he'd shouted back before immediately looking panicked.

Quinn's body shook in a mix of anger and upset, she didn't really care that she knew she and Finn were about to break up, it was the fact that the reason was Rachel.

"So we're breaking up?" she asked as calmly as she could.

"How are you so calm right now? Do you not feel anything any more?" he yelled.

She felt like she'd been slapped. How could he even ask her that? After everything she'd gone through, after everything they'd been through.

Against her wishes a single tear dropped down her cheek and Finn let out a sigh.

"Quinn-"

"Is this me feeling enough for you?"

He started reaching out for her, "Qui-"

"Don't touch me!" she snapped as she got out of his car.

She knew she looked a state so she ran into the house running to her room to clean herself up, she changed her clothes and redid her make up. Quinn knew Finn wouldn't go to Rachel right away and she smiled to herself, deciding that she'd be the messenger. Then he'd see how much she was feeling.

She got into her car and drove towards the Puckermans, she'd found out from Rachel's dads where she'd been spending her time. She checked her reflection in the car mirror one more time before getting out, locking the doors and walking to knock the door of the home she'd once stayed in.

Dana didn't look enthusiastic at the sight of her but she smiled nonetheless.

"Hi Ms Puckerman, can I come in?"

"Sure, Quinn. Puck and Rachel are in his room; help yourself to a drink if you'd like one"

"Thank you"

She made her way to Puck's room and the door was open, she could hear the two bantering back and forth and she stood just before the doorway a little in shock at the sight of the two completely absorbed in whatever video game they were playing. And the shock of Rachel Berry in seemingly normal clothing.

She coughed to alert them to her presence; they turned to look at her briefly before looking right back at the TV.

"Hello Quinn"

"Sup, what can we do you for?"

Quinn realized she actually hadn't really thought this through at all, why had she actually come here? What was it going to achieve really? She was debating leaving when Rachel's voice made her jump.

"Yes! In your face, Puckerman. So, Quinn, what are you doing here?" she said without her eyes leaving the screen.

"Yeah, I thought you'd be busy sucking face with Finn" Puck said as he violently punched at the buttons on his controller.

"That's why I'm here actually" she said, "Finn and I broke up"

"Well, that sucks. Sorry" Puck said not really sounding sorry at all as he continued to shoot at people on the screen.

"Sorry to hear that Quinn, that's his loss" Rachel said with a small smile as she looked to the blonde before looking back to the game just in time to make another kill.

"He wants you back" the blonde told her as she leant against the doorframe, Rachel's eyes snapped to hers with a surprised expression.

Puck took the opportunity of the brief distraction to completely obliterate the brunette in the COD marathon they'd been having for the last almost two hours.

"Ha! Now you gotta give me twenty push ups AND do the dishes for Momma Puckerman" the mohawked boy declared with a smirk as he threw down his XBOX controller.

"Rachel? Aren't you going to say anything?" Quinn said sharply as she tapped her foot impatiently waiting for the girl to react.

"I just lost because of Finn fucking Hudson!"

The brunette glared as she tossed her controller aside. "Two hours I'd been playing that game, two hours and I was close to annihilating him. You know what I would've been getting if I'd of won? After much pleading I'd convinced Noah that if he lost the game he had to do the Single Ladies dance and let me record it as evidence because he could trust me to keep it to myself. But now thanks to that freakishly tall premature ejaculator I get to sweat AND be a cliché by having to get in the kitchen!"

Quinn was in shock at the outburst, had she really just those things about the boy she was supposed to have been in love with for a long time?

Puck smirked, "yes you do, now drop and give me twenty, Berry!"

Rachel huffed before whipping off her shirt in record timing to reveal a bright pink sports bra and a set of abs that took aback both Puck and Quinn who was still lingering in the doorway rather wide eyed.

"What? You couldn't honestly think a vegan diet, extensive dance lessons and a steady exercise regime didn't pay off?" she smiled as she patted her slender toned stomach. "Now move your shit out of the way, Puckerman, I have push ups to do!"

Puck quickly pushed the debris of his floor underneath his bed and watched as the little diva dropped onto her hands and started effortlessly lowering herself to the floor before pushing back up again, Puck and Quinn watched on in amazement unable to take their eyes of the flexing motion the exercise caused in the petite girl's small but toned arms.

"Alright trooper, that's twenty" Puck said reaching down to offer her his hand, expecting her to quickly jump back up. But she didn't stop.

Instead she put one arm behind her back and continued to perform one handed push ups.

Quinn's mouth fell open, she'd been head cheerleader in Sue Sylvester's evil little cheerleading army and she couldn't do those, Brittany could though, and Santana. Damn that Latina and her freakish strength.

"What the-"

"Holy shit. Rachel are you some kind of secret ninja or something?"

Rachel snorted, she quickly got to twenty of the one handed push ups and leapt back to her feet as if she'd done nothing. She grabbed the water bottle from Puck's desk and took a few sips before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand; she raised an eyebrow at the two sets of eyes that were on her.

"What? Oh,did I fail to mention that I have quite an amazing amount of strength for someone of such short stature?" she grinned, "I should've mentioned that to make me sweat takes an immense amount of physical exertion, and Puckerman if you go there with a lewd sex joke I swear I'll tell your mother what you were really getting up to those nights she thought you were working"

Puck went slightly pale, if she knew he'd gone to fight club again then he'd really find out what it meant to get his ass handed to him. He held up his hands in defeat.

"Quinn you're awfully quiet, while I'm aware you aren't my biggest fan, well, you're still here. You can dare to venture into the room you know, while I know it may rehash certain bad memories for you, and it smells slightly of a sweaty teenage boy, I assure you I don't bite and I don't think Puck will take it upon himself to attempt round two with you while I'm here" Rachel said as she sat on the bed patting the space beside her.

The blonde just blinked at the amount of words flying from the girl's mouth, she knew she could talk but _boy_ could she talk.

"Yeah" Puck said as he flopped down next to Rachel, "the past is the past baby mama"

Quinn glared at him and was about to tell him never to call her that when the brunette covered his mouth with her hand and decidedly took it upon herself to tear him a new one.

"Puck I know you're a teenage boy and it's a well known fact that boys mature later than girls do but do you have any idea of how degrading that term is?" Rachel didn't give him chance to respond.

"The term 'baby mamas' is often associated with women that have children for no other reason but spite or to keep a partner around to help with the financial burden of a child. Or it means you simply had a purely sexual relationship which resulted in pregnancy, neither of those statements factor in here. Quinn didn't pursue a sexual relationship with you, Noah; you got her drunk and took advantage of the moment that presented itself. Which I know you deeply regret but it still happened"

Rachel drew her hand away from the boy's mouth and casually got to her feet walking over to Quinn, she gently placed a hand on the blonde's arm who was desperately trying to piece together a reply to what had been her 'frenemy' defending her.

"I apologize if I was out of line speaking for you, Quinn, but I was merely explaining that as a woman myself I find it a rather unattractive way to describe someone who carried another life around inside of her"

"You weren't-, I mean-, thanks" The blonde managed to mumble and Rachel smiled rather coyly.

"Wow, Quinn Fabray struggling with a response, that's something new to me. Now, Puck can I trust you to be a courteous gentleman while I go do the dishes?" she asked from the doorway as she gently eased Quinn towards the middle of the room. The blonde finally moved and sat next to Puck.

"Rach you don't have to, I'll do them later" Puck sighed as he reached for his XBOX controller again.

"Nah its okay bro, I can ask your Mom for more embarrassing stories about you while I'm up there" she teased and Puck grimaced slightly. "I'll make us all something to eat while I'm up there too, do Vegan BLT's sound okay, Quinn?"

The blonde was slightly perplexed, she'd gone over there with the intention of telling Rachel about Finn and making her feel guilty about it yet the brunette didn't seem to care that the boy was single again and was now offering to make dinner for her?

Puck's mouth was already watering at the mention of Rachel's cooking, she didn't do it much but when she did her food was fanfuckingtastic if he did say so himelf, even if it was Vegan. The woman appreciated other women, could cook, sing, make various things look pretty effortless and he was pretty sure that if he challenged her to an arm wrestling contest she'd at the very least put up an impressive fight. Puck was getting tempted to admit that she was kind of his new hero. And if she wasn't his number one bro,and into the girl sat next to him,he'd totally tap that.

"Uh, I shouldn't" Quinn said loosely gesturing to her front, ever since giving birth to Beth she'd become slightly obsessed with the fact that her body was different than before, though no one would ever of guessed that she'd had a child.

Rachel snorted. "Please, you're like a hundred and five max. You work out like crazy and pick at your food in school, don't make me force feed you Fabray. Your body's fine,more than fine. Now, pick up that controller and lose yourself in the game cause' once we've ate we're gonna kick Puck's ass to make up for my losing earlier" and with a wink she was out the door.

Quinn tentatively reached for the second XBOX controller, desperately hoping she wasn't blushing as much as she thought she would. She was used to confident Rachel Berry, but playfully cocky and slightly flirtacious Rachel Berry? Whole new ball game.

"Wow, I don't think I've seen you go that shade of pink before, and that's saying something, because I saw you pretty much pass a bowling ball between your legs" Puck chuckled and earned a playful smack to his arm.

"Shut it, Puckerman. Now, show me how to play this damn game so I don't embarrass myself any more than I already have".

Quinn tried to listen as Puck explained the game and controls to her but the whole time one thought was swirling around in her mind, _am I losing it or did Rachel Berry just flirt with me?_


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes! Quick, shoot Quinn, shoot!" Rachel exclaimed as Quinn quickly made a kill meaning that they'd beaten Puck like she wanted.

"Aw man!" Puck said throwing down his controller, Rachel stood up off the bed doing a victory dance that Quinn couldn't help but laugh at just because it was so damn dorky. Even without the girl being in her usual attire.

"Yeah yeah, you gloat, bitch. Just wait til' we have a rematch" Puck said with no malice and a smile on his face, he threw Rachel's shirt at her.

She rolled her eyes before quickly putting it on; she grinned like she was having an idea and bounded out of the room.

Puck and Quinn looked to each other before following her, she'd run out the front door and was running down Puck's street waving her shirt above her head in a real lap of victory.

"She's crazy" Quinn said shaking her head in disbelief as they watched Rachel running back towards them whooping the entire time.

"Like we didn't know that already" Puck laughed, "but she's also pretty fucking cool outside of Mckinley"

The blonde wasn't exactly sure she'd call it cool, but Rachel was definitely different.

"Are neither of you gonna join me? Come on Quinn we won, as winners we have a right to do this" Rachel yelled as she jogged up and down on the spot.

Puck shrugged out of his shirt, "I didn't even win but come on let's give my neighbours something to stare at!" he said running out to join her.

Rachel put her hands on her hips and looked back at Quinn. "Come on, you're obligated. I insist you partake in our childish winning ritual"

The blonde smiled but shook her head. "I think you both failed to notice, I'm in a dress"

"We don't mind"

"Nothing we haven't seen before" Rachel shrugged, _in her dreams_.

Quinn laughed. "You two go ahead, I'll wait right here, I somehow don't think the neighbours, or my mother, would appreciate me running topless in public"

"Suit yourself" Rachel said with another wink and was off again.

The blonde folded her arms across her chest. Why did she keep winking at her? And why was it making her blush?

"Hey Quinn" Jenny greeted as she noticed her, "what are you doing?"

"Watching your brother and his friend act like loons" she smiled.

"I thought Rachel was your friend too, you guys sing together"

Quinn sighed, "It's complicated, Jen"

Jenny patted her on the shoulder, "only if you let it be"

She was right. All the drama didn't have to last outside of Mckinley, right? Out here there was a sense of normality and it was perfectly acceptable for Quinn Fabray to hang out with Rachel Berry because she was hanging round with the father of her child. Right?

Quinn wasn't convinced but for some reason she didn't care. She was in need of friends and friendship was something Rachel had offered her a million times before, well, it was time for some reciprocating.

"Hey guys" she called out. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

The pair finally went back to her and settled themselves in Puck's kitchen.

"I vote we go see a movie" Puck said taking a huge bite of an apple.

Rachel scoffed, "it's the summer we are not going to go sit in a dark movie theatre when we could be out enjoying the sun"

"She's right" Quinn agreed, "We could hang around my pool if you want? My mom won't be around,she's got AA"

"Cool, I'll bring Beer"

Rachel hit the back of Puck's head lightly.

"Ow, woman! What was that for?"

"Being insensitive you ass, and you didn't even ask Quinn if you could bring anything,you told her. Asking is polite, especially with your history"

"Okay, I'm sorry ba-, Quinn. Can I bring Beer?"

Quinn looked astonished at how much he actually listened to Rachel.

"Could you please teach me how to do that?"

"Do what?" Rachel asked with a puzzled expression.

"Make him listen" Quinn told her, "oh gosh you two aren't sleeping together are you?"

The brunette almost spat her water onto the counter and she threw a hand to her throat as she choked slightly.

"Eww!"

"Why would you ask that?" Puck said shaking his head.

"Because it's Puckersaurus" Quinn said with an eyebrow raise and appropriate air quotes.

"We're bro's" Rachel shrugged.

"Yeah, besides she wouldn't go for me, I'm not bl-" Rachel cut him off sharply with an elbow in his side.

"Ow! Dude,I swear your elbows double as weapons. I'm starting to think you really are a secret ninja" he said as he rubbed his side, Rachel smiled and shot him a warning glare, meaning she wasn't against hurting him again if he opened his big mouth.

"As fun as this is I should get going" Quinn said as she got to her feet, she was halfway to the door when she span back around.

"Rachel?" she asked and the girl looked to her.

"Do you need a ride home?"

"Actually Quinn I think Pu-"

"Sure she does" Puck said pushing Rachel forward slightly, "It means I can get back to COD to make sure I don't get beat by a couple of girls again any time soon"

Rachel slapped him playfully before biting her lip.

"Are you sure? I mean, I can walk, or make Puck drive me"

Quinn shook her head and offered her a smile, "its fine"

"I want all the juicy details" Puck whispered as he placed a firm hand on Rachel's shoulder, she elbowed him again just not as sharply.

"She's driving me home and she's straight you nut, I'll see you tomorrow" she replied as she followed Quinn out of the door.

Rachel hesitantly got into Quinn's car and buckled herself in.

"Do you even remember where I live?" Rachel asked as the blonde put the car in drive.

"Of course, this is Lima"

A silence took over the car but it wasn't an uncomfortable one, Quinn turned the radio on low and smiled as Rachel hummed along with it. After about five minutes she pulled up outside the Berry house.

"Thank you for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow" Rachel said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and went to push the door open.

Quinn reached out and tugged her arm back slightly and the brunette turned back to her.

"I know you didn't seem bothered earlier but I just wanted to let you know that if you decide to get back with Finn..then you have my support"

Rachel snorted. "This is a very different conversation to the one we had in the auditorium, Quinn. Or do you not remember telling me I was too good for him?"

The blonde swallowed and tensed a little. "Of course I remember, I meant it and I still mean it now. I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to stand in your way and that our history can remain that way, in the past"

Rachel narrowed her eyes before letting a smile take over her face. "Thank you, that's very big of you. I know I've offered my friendship in the past and you've declined it but I see now that you are making the effort. It's not going to be easy and I'll probably annoy the shit out of you but I appreciate that I'm being given a chance"

Quinn shook her head, "I'm not the one giving you a chance, Rachel, you're the one giving me a chance. I've done awful things-"

"Hey, you just said we're leaving that in the past"

"I know but-"

Rachel put a finger to the blonde's lips. "We'll start anew, I know things have been complicated and might still continue to be but at least we're both trying"

"Things are only gonna stay complicated if we let them be, Rachel"

The brunette smiled. "Mohawk's sister tell you that?"

"Maybe" Quinn smiled, "but it's true"

"Maybe" Rachel teased, "so..as a friend, can I get your number?"

The blonde wondered why that sounded like a pick up line to her, oh yeah, Puck.

"Only if you promise me one thing" she replied as she took Rachel's phone from her.

"What?"

"Don't text me in the morning; I know you get up ridiculously early"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"It's the summer, Quinn, I do sleep in you know"

"And what does Rachel Berry class as sleeping in, hmm?"

"Sometimes 9,sometimes just before"

The blonde shook her head and chuckled, that answer was so predictable somehow.

"Definitely no texting"


	4. Chapter 4

The Berry men were delighted to see how happy their daughter seemed when she joined them in their living room to watch the ending of the movie they were watching.

"You seem happy, sweetie. Have you and Noah had a good day?" Hiram asked as he ruffled her hair slightly as she leant against him.

She let out a contented sigh. "Yeah, we had fun. And Quinn joined us.."

Leroy looked to her like she'd just told them she was eloping to Vegas to get married and Hiram looked away slightly, to disguise the fact that he'd already had Quinn turn up on their doorstep asking if Rachel was home.

"Quinn Fabray?" Leroy asked and Rachel nodded.

"_The_ Quinn Fabray? The Quinn you used to insist you didn't have a crush on?"

The brunette hid her face at the reminder. For a time she'd gone home from school unable to stop her babbling and somehow it always ended up being about Quinn, her fathers had lost count at the amount of times they'd heard the ex-cheerleader's name leave her lips. It wasn't always a good thing to hear what she'd put her daughter through, but they recognised the defensive mechanism and chose to let Rachel figure out the girl by herself.

After a while it was extremely obvious to both men that their daughter was harbouring a good amount of feelings towards Quinn, especially when Rachel decided to pursue Finn in a misguided attempt at getting closer to the blonde in question.

"Yes, that's the one"

"The blonde cheerleader"

"Oh Daddy, her legs in that damn uniform" Hiram teased and Leroy chuckled as Rachel turned visibly pink.

"I am asking you nicely to cease your teasing right this second. Especially when I have to see Quinn, and said legs, around her pool tomorrow"

Rachel gulped, slightly nervous at how she was going to keep her thoughts to herself.

Leroy snorted. "I'd pay to see you and Puck contain yourselves around that, I might be a married gay man but I know that Quinn is extremely beautiful. Just try not to drool all over yourself 'kay, pumpkin?"

Rachel pouted and pulled herself up from the couch.

"I'm going to leave you to finish your movie and to talk about me when I'm not around like I know you gossips do" she said smiling as she pointed at them both.

She grabbed a bottle of water and one of her favourite vegan chocolate bars before skipping up stairs to her room. She hummed as she closed the door behind her and quickly changed into a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of her favoured shorts, if they could be called that.

She put her iPod in it's dock to play some music in the background as she flopped onto her bed grabbing her phone. She'd only meant I couldn't text her in the morning..right? And it wouldn't hurt to, you know; check the number was correct and all.

**Rachel: Testing Testing…**

Quinn reached for her phone as her message alert went off and she smiled.

**Quinn: Checking I didn't give you a wrong number?**

Rachel flipped over on to her stomach; well, she'd started a conversation now she may as well continue.

**Rachel: Checking that today really happened, actually. I think I'm correct in assuming you don't mind me texting you as long as it isn't early morning as discussed. So, what are you upto?**

The blonde shook her head. Rachel was pretty incapable of shortening her babble, even via text.

**Quinn: Just wondering why you use so many words. You?**

**Rachel: I enjoy the use of a wide vocabulary. Don't act like you don't like the English language, Quinn, I see you writing away in Burns' class like there's no tomorrow. **

Quinn blushed slightly; she didn't think anyone had noticed how passionate she was about that class. She adored English Literature. She might be blonde but she was anything but the cliché.

**Rachel: And I'm just ****exchanging messages with a pretty girl that recently became my friend, can you believe it?**

Quinn chuckled and briefly covered her face even though no one could see her.

**Quinn: ****Really? Lucky you.**

**Rachel: Extremely lucky. So, what are you always writing in that notebook in Burns' class? I know for a fact you finish your assignments long before everyone else, even I. **

**Quinn: Are you that intrigued? It's nothing special, but I'll tell you if you tell me what that large folder in your locker is filled with.**

Rachel bit her lip. How had she noticed that? She thought no one knew about that folder. It was black, everything else in her stationary was pink or white with gold stars, and it contained sheet music, but not the kind that she'd usually present in Glee.

**Rachel: I am intrigued, and okay as long as we're both sharing. It's just sheet music, lots of it.**

**Quinn: Then why so secretive with it? I don't think I've seen that folder leave your locker since freshman year.**

The diva almost dropped her phone in surprise. She'd known about it since freshman year?

**Rachel: Um, the music isn't what would be considered my 'usual' style..**

Now the blonde was more than interested.

**Quinn: Rachel you do realize we've covered most genres in Glee? And I'm pretty sure your voice is capable of any style, scratch that, I'm certain. **

Quinn bit her lip, was she sounding like she paid to much attention to Rachel and her voice?

**Quinn: Apart from death metal, not even Puckerman could pull that off. But other than that. **

Rachel chuckled and silently agreed. Screaming in songs wasn't something she found herself wanting to do.

**Rachel: Your confidence is extremely flattering, Quinn. Maybe I should consider using some of the songs when we're back in Glee. **

**Quinn: You should. What do you have in there? I'm intrigued.**

**Rachel: Oh, just… There's a lot of Joan Jett, I just don't know if I could do the songs justice, her voice is extremely different to my own.**

**Quinn: Isn't that the point? No two voices in our club are the same. And one of the greatest things about music is that it's open to interpretation. I sang It's a Man's Man's Man's World even though I'm not male. I'm a big Joan Jett fan too, which of her songs do you sing?**

Quinn was a fan of Joan Jett? Well, there really was more to this girl than meets the eye.

**Rachel: It's great to hear you talking so passionately about music, Quinn. And at the moment Don't Abuse Me seems to be my go to song, my dad told me I wouldn't stop humming it the other night at dinner. Do you have any favourites?**

**Quinn: Great choice. Crimson and Clover is one of my favourites, but at the moment its I Hate Myself for Loving You. You should get Puck to back you up on guitar and work on one of her songs. **

**Rachel: Also great choices. And maybe, we'll see. What's in your notebook? I don't give up easily, Fabray! And about tomorrow, you didn't exactly specify a time. **

_Had I really not told them what time to come over? Wow, I suck at making plans._

**Quinn: ****Maybe I'll show you some time. And oops, sorry. Any time early afternoon is fine. And I have to say this now; if your bikini is argyle I'm retracting the invitation right now. **

Rachel snorted and hit her head on her pillow. So she favoured argyle, but did people really think that was all her wardrobe contained?

**Rachel: Contrary to popular belief I do own items of clothing that are not argyle. And I don't own an argyle bikini; even I can admit that that is too much. So my invite is safe :) yay! **

Quinn giggled, at least even Rachel Berry had a limit..sort of.

**Quinn: Darn, I s'pose it is :p Anyway I ****have to go, I'm pretty sure my mom's burning something in the kitchen.**

**Rachel: In that case I'm glad I forced my Vegan BLT upon you, and don't even try to deny that you enjoyed it :p **

**Quinn: No denial here, it was awesome. Though I wouldn't choose vegan rashers over my beloved **_**real**_** bacon..**

**Rachel: Pfft, I'll make Vegans of you and Puck yet. Now go see what your mother's up to before I take it upon myself to have the emergency services on standby. **

Quinn shook her head, was it possible to have this much fun talking to someone that she'd spent so much time deliberately trying to ignore?

**Quinn: We'll see about that, Berry. And thanks for the concern. If I die you can take whatever you want from my wardrobe. No, really. I insist. **

Rachel snorted at the non-malicious dig at her questionable wardrobe choices.

**Rachel: You're welcome. And thank you. I'm sure Kurt could shorten everything for me.**

It was Quinn's turn to snort; it was no secret that the brunette favoured shorter clothing. And she had mysteriously long legs for someone so small.

**Quinn: I'm sure he could. Now stop texting me, I have a possible fire to go put out. **

**Rachel: You know where I am if you require assistance. I'm quite handy with a hose.**

A Puck style comment infiltrated the blonde's mind and she felt herself blush even though she was alone in her room.

Well, that was interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

That morning Rachel woke as normal and immediately hid her phone so she wouldn't be tempted to wake Quinn who was sure to still be sleeping, they'd had a really great conversation and the diva was hoping it had set a good tone for the day.

She quickly got into her sports bra and a pair of shorts, making quick work of tying her sneakers before bounding downstairs. She greeted her fathers in the kitchen with a kiss to each of their cheeks as she grabbed a bottle of water and her iPod off the counter.

Not long before she'd started hanging with Puck she'd realized how boring the elliptical was doing it day in day out, seven days a week for the past few years. She decided to take up jogging and that was that. Today was no different; she'd take her regular route and take a leisurely jog through the park she and Puck had played various sports in before looping around and going back home.

The sounds of her special 'Jogging Playlist' played in her ears as she jogged at her set pace, the sun was streaming through the trees and Rachel smiled at what a beautiful day it was already. She was jogging back through the park when someone tapped her on the shoulder, it took her by surprise and she almost jumped out of her skin before realizing it was just her bro.

She pulled one of her ear buds out and slowed down a little.

"How'd you know where I'd be?" Rachel asked as they left the park and took a left.

Puck snorted. "You're wearing a bikini in front of Quinn today; I knew you'd be exercising even though you don't need to. But your dad told me, I stopped by to return the tools I borrowed last weekend"

Rachel smiled, of course he did. "I know I don't need to but I had to burn off the extra adrenaline somehow, I very much doubt that Quinn would enjoy complete and utter nervous energy"

"You nervous? You're like the most confident person I know, just be yourself like you always are. And straight or not, Quinn was impressed yesterday and oh look where we're going today"

Rachel stopped jogging and scratched her head. "Are you just trying to make me feel better, Puckerman?"

Puck punched her shoulder lightly, "don't Puckerman me, bro. And no, she seemed impressed. Well, we were both impressed with your abs and ninja skills" Rachel chuckled. "And then when you were in the kitchen Quinn told me she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of you by sucking at COD"

The brunette allowed herself a small smile. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Now stop being such a girl, Berry. Race you back to yours?"

Rachel broke into a sprint. "Loser cleans up after breakfast"

Puck patted his stomach contentedly after polishing off the breakfast Rachel had made him, he was really damn impressed with how tasty Vegan food was, at least when his bro made it. He got up to do the dishes but Rachel waved him away, she'd beat him home but clearly she just wanted to stall before she went to get ready to go to Quinn's. He smirked at her knowingly and she rolled her eyes.

"Puck make sure our baby girl behaves herself today" Leroy said as he took a sip of his coffee and his husband chuckled next to him, peering over his newspaper in time to see his daughter pouting as per.

"You're really going to say that to him? And since when don't I behave myself?" Rachel said as she dried off the last plate before turning round to face the three men in the kitchen. Hiram raised an eyebrow and she immediately looked away as she thought back to the first fortnight of her summer vacation. Actually, the first incident had been the very first school-free day.

_Rachel's dad's faced her crossing their arms and she was immediately worried. _

"_Mr Paisley said he heard you using the most vulgar language in the yard this morning, Rachel. Want to explain that to us?"_

"_I was singing!"_

_Leroy shook his head, "okay, this we have to hear. What on earth were you singing, baby girl?"_

"_..Well, it wasn't singing so much as rapping..." _

_She hit the play button on the stereo and the sounds of Shake That blared into the Berry's living room. She bopped from side to side before starting to rap along with Eminem._

"_Get buzzed, get drunk, get crunk, get fucked up. Hit the strip club don't forget your ones get your dick rubbed. Get fucked, get sucked, get wasted, shit faceted-"_

_She didn't get any further before her dad's were howling in laughter; luckily the Berry men had a sense of humour. The sight of their barely 5'2 seventeen year old daughter rapping and moving like she was from a 'hood' was almost too much.. She got told to make sure she kept it down next time; their neighbours had already filed a lawsuit before Rachel's room had been soundproofed._

She blushed as realized her dad's had just told Puck the very story she was thinking about.

Since then she'd gotten into trouble with their neighbour once again when she forgot she had her earbuds in as she hosed the front lawn, she'd broken her set curfew when she and Puck went to a college party and the poor boy thought he was going to be beaten as he dropped home a very buzzed Rachel Berry. He'd lost sight of her as he chatted up a voluptuous blonde and the next time he caught her she was letting some random dude pour alcohol into her mouth through a funnel.

"Don't worry, I won't play any rap around her" he teased sticking out his tongue and she returned the gesture.

"You all suck. I'm going to get ready" she told them before going up to her room, quite happy to leave Puck in her father's company.

"I know this must be awkward seeing as you fathered a child with Quinn but, do you think there's any reason for us to be worried? We don't want Rachel to get any more hurt" Hiram said as he handed Puck another soda, knowing that Rachel would be taking her time.

Puck popped the lid before taking a sip and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Don't worry guys, Rachel's my bro, I got her back"

"Hi" Quinn greeted as she opened the door, Rachel was slightly disappointed to notice that the blonde wasn't just standing there in a bikini like she'd both hoped and dreaded simaltaneously. She smiled at the other girl.

"So you survived the fire then?" Rachel asked as Quinn closed the door behind Puck.

Quinn chuckled, "luckily she only burnt the pan"

She led the pair to her back yard and quickly shrugged off the dress that she'd pulled on over her two piece until they'd arrived. She bent down to pick it up from around her feet and as she straightened back up she noticed that Puck wasn't the only one checking her out.

Rachel looked a little guilty and tried to avert her eyes whereas Puck just smirked, Quinn turned to the side slightly and smiled. She hadn't mistaken that, the diva was _actually_ checking her out.

"So" the blonde said brightly as she faced them again with her hands on her hips, "let's see what you two can do"

Rachel and Puck looked to each other before watching as Quinn jumped off the small diving board doing a perfect forward somersault, she disappeared into the water and within a few seconds surfaced again at the opposite end of the pool.

"Well?" she said with a grin.

Quinn definitely had them beat. Puck just prided himself on his dive bombing skills and Rachel didn't know what she was capable of on a diving board. She simply jumped in the water swimming over to Quinn.

"Aw come on, you're not even gonna try?"

"I don't want to show off" the brunette told her with a smile.

She got an eyebrow raise. Ah that eyebrow. "Rachel I think you went past show off yesterday when you did forty push ups, including one armed, in less than 3 and a half minutes"

"Wait" Puck grinned, "you counted?" Quinn shrugged.

"Okay fine, I'll show you" Rachel agreed, "but it's probably not going to be so impressive seeing as we all already know what superior lungs I have. I can hold my breath underwater for almost a minute"

Puck snorted. "Bull, you might be a ninja but dude, people can barely get to thirty seconds without feeling like they're gonna pass out"

Saying nothing else Rachel took a deep breath before submerging herself under the water. Quinn looked to Puck and they started counting out loud. They passed thirty seconds and shook their heads in disbelief.

"I swear she's planning a back up career as a marine or somethin' " Puck mumbled.

They'd gotten to exactly fifty seven seconds when Rachel jumped back up to surface tossing her hair back and splashing Quinn in the process.

"Sorry" she said wiping her eyes, "but there you have it. Suck it Puckerman"

"You should know better than to use those words and Puck's name in the same sentence" Quinn teased as she splashed Rachel. The girl gasped in shock, already completely dripping wet from head to toe.

"Don't gang up on me just cause' you're both girls, that's sexist and Rachel's my bro so back off, Fabray" Puck said as he splashed the blonde himself.

They all looked to each other before completely reverting into children starting the biggest splash fight they could. Rachel squeaked and tried running backwards through the water but forgot that as the pool got deeper she couldn't touch the floor at all, she was about to go under when Quinn noticed and caught her.

"Please don't drown in my pool" the blonde smiled as she guided Rachel back to where she could stand.

Puck noticed the two having a little moment so decided to climb up out of the pool.

"I'm going to get one of my beers, are you two having one?"

Rachel and Quinn looked to each other before shrugging.

"Sure"

They finally got out of the pool when Puck returned with their drinks; they settled themselves on the sun-loungers to soak up the sun's glorious rays that were beating down on Lima.

Rachel completely forgot that beer gave her the hiccups and so Puck and Quinn got a good laugh at her expense, she sat and pouted until Quinn patted her arm.

"Don't be embarrassed, we all have our stories. Mine was just obvious to the entire planet, and my bladder"

Rachel chuckled but gave the blonde an understanding yet thankful glance. It was nice, hanging out with people that didn't deliberately want to embarrass her, though she was sure she could do a pretty good job of embarrassing herself just from the way she couldn't stop staring at Quinn's abs.

Quinn was finishing off her Budweiser when she noticed Rachel watching her. She smiled amusedly.

"Is this payback for us ogling your abs yesterday?" she laughed.

Rachel's cheeks went slightly pink and she quickly reached for her drink being careful to take only a small sip.

"I'm sorry for staring, I just, I cannot believe you had a child. Are you sure you weren't hiding a pillow underneath all those pretty dresses?"

Quinn let out really girly giggle that seemed to surprise even herself.

"Oh I definitely had a baby. You should've seen me crying when I stepped onto the scales, I felt like I was doomed to live life a beached whale"

"That's nothing" Puck commented before letting out a belch to which both girls wrinkled their noses in disgust. "You should've seen her when she was giving birth, I didn't think I was gonna make it out of there alive."

"You almost didn't" Quinn said lowering her sunglasses to raise an eyebrow at him. "I was seriously contemplating murder, of both Puck and the doctor when they told me I'd missed the window for an epidural. Child birth, definitely not something I foresee in my future"

Rachel chuckled and she could understand the reasoning even without having been in that position herself.

"Rach, your shoulders are burning" Quinn said shaking her head, "please tell me you are wearing sunscreen"

"Of course I am! Though I may have put a little baby oil on to encourage the sun to top up my tan, even out my skin tone"

"Rachel Berry!" Quinn chided as she reached for her own SPF 30. "Turn to the side" she demanded as she stood over the smaller girl.

Rachel blinked a few times and was glad to be hiding behind her sunglasses otherwise the pair might've thought she'd developed some kind of weird twitch.

"Okay" she murmured as she slowly turned to the side well aware that Puck was watching closely and she was pretty sure she was already blushing at the thought of Quinn's soft hands kneading her shoulders.

She heard the squirt of the bottle and before she could fully prepare herself the blonde was gently but firmly smothering the cream all over her shoulders and upper arms. She closed her eyes and hummed in approval, the blonde definitely had the softest hands she'd ever felt.

"All done" Quinn said smiling, patting Rachel's shoulders before returning to her own lounger.

"Th-thanks" Rachel managed to get out as she leant back; Puck was finding the whole situation a little hilarious. Rachel really was his bro.

"Hey Quinn, I think you missed a spot" he said and Rachel leaned forward to glare at him.

Quinn chuckled. "Quit being such a perv, Puckerman. She has her own hands"

"Oh I'm sure she does" Puck said laughing at his obvious innuendo.

"You're risking your life right now, _bro_" the diva growled as she went to get out of her seat.

Quinn grabbed her hand in an attempt to diffuse the slightly odd situation.

"Hey" she said motioning for Rachel to leave it and sit down, still holding her hand. "No murdering Puck please, I know it's extremely tempting but I was hoping you could help me make some food in a little while"

Rachel glanced at their hands before looking back to Quinn and was almost about to ask who the hell Puck was when said boy's snort broke through her daze.

"Of course, and I'll hold off on the murder. Orange isn't really my colour"

"Hmm, is green your colour Rach?" Puck asked as he stared down at his cell phone.

"I don't know" Rachel said with a shrug, "why?"

"We might find out, Finn just texted me saying he's coming here"

**Author Note: Green could be for nausea or jealousy.**


	6. Chapter 6

"You have got to be kidding me!" Rachel exclaimed as she stood to her feet throwing her sunglasses down on her lounger.

Quinn was a little confused, wasn't she the one that had recently been dumped by him? Rachel's reaction was definitely..intriguing.

"Rach, calm down" Puck said standing in front of her.

"Calm down, calm down?" she repeated. "How can I calm down? He was a complete and utter asshole to me and then he hurt Quinn and he thinks he can just swing by? Gee, I wonder who he's showing up for this time cause' he certainly couldn't make up his mind before!"

The blonde knew Finn wasn't a good boyfriend and definitely had his moments but she couldn't help but feel there was something more to Rachel's reaction.

"Did something happen, Rachel?" she asked as she took off her sunglasses to look at her properly, the brunette looked to floor staring awkwardly at her feet.

"Hey" Quinn said gently as she placed a hand on Rachel's bare back, "please tell me?"

Rachel took a deep breath before recounting the _real_ reason Finn had broke up with her, everybody thought it was because she'd kissed Puck but he'd just used that as an excuse.

_They were kissing on Rachel's bed and she pulled away for air, he quickly reattached his lips to hers but harder and the brunette tried not to wince as his grip on her small arms increased._

"_Finn" she said pulling away, turning her head to the side. He smoothed out her hair and smiled at her crookedly as he tried to move his body even closer. He tried to reach under her shirt and she slapped his hand away, shaking her head._

"_Come on, Rach. We've been dating a while now, what happened to the girl that told the celibacy club she wanted sex?"_

_Rachel did a mental eye roll._

"_I didn't say I wanted sex Finn, I was merely pointing out that boys aren't the only ones that want it" _

_She wanted sex, just not with him. Or Puck. Or Jesse. The only person she'd fantasized about having sex with was __a certain 5'6 blonde, with the most luscious thighs she'd laid eyes on and an ass you could bounce a quarter off. _

_Okay, so she'd briefly pictured sex with Brittany after over hearing Santana telling Puck just how flexible she was, but out of fear for the Latina somehow being able to read her thoughts she'd quickly forgotten all about it._

_Finn huffed and stood up shrugging into his jacket. "You don't make it easy for a guy, Rachel. Do you even know how much stick I get for dating you? You not putting out doesn't help"_

_Rachel didn't care because she wasn't quite as in love with Finn as she claimed to be any more, but still, that hurt. _

"_I'm sorry dating me has been a hindrance to your precious reputation" she bit back, she wasn't about to let Finn walk all over her and pressure her in to doing something she didn't want to do._

"_Wait, hindrance? Whatever. Look, Rach, I don't wanna fight. You just need to stop thinking of yourself all the time"_

"_Excuse me?" Rachel exclaimed. "You're the one constantly making me feel I'm not good enough, Finn! I know you're the quarterback and I'm just a lowly Glee club singer that the school targets, but you're supposed to love me. Or does that mean nothing any more?"_

_Finn clenched his fists before kicking Rachel's desk chair so hard that it hit the wall. He took a deep breath before turning back to her; Rachel swallowed hard clearing her throat._

"_I think you should go"_

_Finn left after that and Rachel cried, purely out of frustration at the situation she'd trapped herself in._

Puck was seething; he was already visualizing taking Finn down the second he saw him. No one treats his bro that way, even if it was before they were bro's.

Quinn was feeling a mixture of shock and anger; surprisingly the anger outweighed the shock and she was feeling an overwhelming desire to join Puck in beating his ass.

"I'm gonna kill that punk" Puck growled as Rachel shook her head desperately trying to calm him down.

"He isn't worth it" Rachel told him softly as she rubbed his arm trying to distract the angered boy.

Quinn swallowed before asking. "Please tell me you didn't..you know"

Rachel looked a little repulsed. "Of course not! I wasn't going to give myself to him just to try and keep him around; I knew the minute he complained about me not putting out that it was over"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply- I just wanted to know"

"It's fine. So you didn't..

"God no"

Both girls chuckled and Puck managed a smile before wrapping his arms around both girls' shoulders, their moment was interrupted by the doorbell. Quinn raced towards it moving so fast that Puck and Rachel only caught up with her in time to hear the sound of her palm connecting with a surprised Finn Hudson's face.

"Quinn" Rachel whispered as she gently pulled the blonde next to her as Puck stepped protectively in front of them both.

"You deserved that" Puck said calmly, "now turn around and leave"

"Dude, what the hell?" Finn yelled still rubbing his cheek, "I came here to apologize"

"To who, Quinn for dropping her like yesterday's trash? Or Rachel, for dumping her after complaining she was a prude?"

"What is your problem?" Finn said pushing Puck's shoulder slightly, "I came to get Rachel back but apparently you knocking Quinn up when she was my girlfriend wasn't enough now you're going after Rachel too!"

The brunette scoffed. "Not that it's any of your business, Finn, but Puck and I are just friends. We're actually bro's"

"Yeah right"

"Dude I'm about two seconds away from punching you in the face, leave"

"Try it"

"Finn just go" Quinn said folding her arms.

"No!" he shouted. "Rachel we belong together, I-"

"Do you know how many times you've said that to me, Finn?" Rachel yelled. "We don't belong together and I haven't loved you for a while"

"This is your fault!" Finn said as he moved towards Puck, Quinn quickly jumped between them putting a hand on their chests.

"Would you stop and listen to what she's saying? You need to move on, and get out of my doorway" Quinn told him firmly.

"I won't listen, not when she and Puck are gonna get together and I'll be the laughing stock of the locker room"

"NOT EVERYTHING FUCKING REVOLVES AROUND YOU FINN HUDSON!" Rachel shrieked.

"This is your fault" he said to Quinn this time. "You've gotten in her head and-"

"I like someone, Finn" Rachel told him calmly, "now get the hell out of Quinn's house before I make your other cheek match"

The admittance and threat seemed to have an effect on him and he sighed, his body relaxing as Quinn finally dropped the hand she'd had on his chest.

"You like someone?" he asked and Rachel nodded.

"I do and it goes back a while, since before we were dating even. You were a great guy before you started hurting people. You're better than all of this anger, Finn, so you need to figure things out with yourself"

Finn hung his head slightly and nodded.

"I'm sorry" he said. "To both of you, all of you"

"We're cool, for now" Puck said bumping his shoulder.

"I'll accept your apology, but please don't come by again" Quinn told him though without malice, he nodded understandingly.

"I won't stand by and watch my friends get hurt, Finn. Especially Rachel, she's suffered enough, mostly because of me. But we're friends now and I'm not the girl I used to be, I'm not pretending any more. But hear me when I say this, if you ever hurt Rachel or Puck, hell any of the other Gleeks, I will make the rest of your high school life a living hell. Do I make myself clear?"

Rachel was biting her lip, Quinn's protective attitude was making her stomach do all kinds of flips and Puck was smiling and nodding proudly at the blonde.

"Yeah, I got it" Finn said shuffling his feet awkwardly. "I really am sorry guys, and I hope when we're back at school we can maybe be friends again"

Quinn shut the door as he walked away and she sighed in relief.

"Well, now that's over, who's hungry?"

They spent the rest of the afternoon dancing around the kitchen as they cooked, well the girls cooked and Puck taste tested everything. They were in the midst of a minor food fight when Judy Fabray arrived home; she laughed at the sight of the three teens looking guilty and incredibly messy and told Quinn to make sure that she cleaned up after they were done.

Puck drove Rachel home so Quinn could tidy up and shower. The diva filled her dad's in on their day, especially the drama, and she smiled recalling how Quinn saved her from slipping under the water. Leroy and Hiram lightly teased her about her Cheshire Cat style grin and she gushed about the blonde's protective stance as she helped cook dinner.

They watched a few episodes of Extreme Makeover before Rachel excused herself to her room. She took a quick shower before getting into her pyjamas and sitting Indian style on her bed as she used her laptop. After deleting her spam emails and quickly updating her blog she logged on to her Facebook. Quinn popped up on chat almost immediately.

**Quinn Fabray: Hey, you left your sunglasses here.**

**Rachel Berry: I knew I forgot something, did you manage to get all of the syrup out of your hair?**

**Quinn Fabray: Yes, I swear Puck is just asking for me to dye his Mohawk pink or something.**

**Rachel Berry: Haha! I somehow don't think he'd rock that look. So, has your mother ruined any more kitchen equipment yet? **

**Quinn Fabray: Nope, luckily I took it upon myself to order take out, so I could have the night off from fire fighting duty.**

**Rachel Berry: Good, you already saved one life today.**

**Quinn Fabray: **** You were lucky I got you, maybe we should get some floats for you..**

**Rachel Berry: Well well, look who has a sense of humour.**

**Quinn Fabray: How else would I put up with your wardrobe? :P**

Rachel was about to respond when her internet decided to cut out.

"Crap" she muttered, mentally making the note to speak with her dad's about changing their internet provider. She reached for her phone to quickly punch out a text before her phone started ringing, she smiled at Quinn's named coming up on the screen.

"Hey, sorry my internet's cut out" Rachel said closing the lid on her laptop before flipping over to lie on her stomach.

"Oh okay, I didn't know if it was Facebook being lame. So, are you okay?"

Rachel chuckled. "You mean as opposed to four hours ago when you hit our ex boyfriend in the face and we plastered your kitchen in chocolate?"

"Hey a lot can happen in four hours. Do you want me to bring you your sunglasses tomorrow or?"

Rachel hesitated. Did that mean she'd just drop them off and go or was she sort of hinting at them hanging out for the third consecutive day in a row?

"Rach?"

"Sorry" she chuckled, "I zoned out. Uh, well, do you have anything planned for tomorrow?"

"Nope. Shocking isn't it? Quinn Fabray has absolutely nothing to do with her summer"

Rachel chuckled at the slight dramatics of her sentence.

"What about the English assignment?"

"I finished it already; I had a free period the day after Burns gave us it so I got it done just in case my social calendar took over"

"Your Glee assignment?"

"We're going to do a duet from your secret stash and Puck will be our guitarist"

Rachel was momentarily speechless. Quinn really wanted to sing with her?

"Are you zoning out on me again, Berry?"

"I was just thinking. Well, if you can drag yourself out of your bed a little earlier than you're more than welcome to join me and my dad's, we're going to a carnival a little outside of Lima"

Quinn was a little nervous, she'd never actually met the Berry men and she was sure that they had heard about what she'd put their daughter through. She also knew one of the men was a therapist, something that also scared her.

"That sounds nice, but are you sure they won't mind? I mean they don't' know me..or they might think they do from the horror stories I'm sure they've heard but-"

"Quinn, the past is in the past, my dad's aren't the kind to hold grudges. They're very interested in meeting you actually, you should come over in the morning for breakfast to see how things go with them if you're worried and then you can decide whether you're going to go to the carnival with us or not"

"Well when you mention food how can I not accept the invitation?" the blonde laughed, she too could admit that vegan food was pretty damn tasty when Rachel was the one making it.

"There's me thinking you enjoyed my company when really you're just in it for my bacon" Rachel teased as she stared up at the ceiling with a great smile covering her face.

Quinn chuckled. "Darn, you caught me. I enjoy your company _and_ your culinary skills, what are you making for breakfast?"

"I'm glad you appreciate my cooking, I feel better knowing you've eaten. And I was thinking of making strawberry pancakes with banana shakes to wash them down with, unless you'd like something else?"

The blonde practically drooled at the thought.

"I swear you're going to make me fat, Rachel" she sighed and Rachel chuckled.

"Not possible, and I'm impressed with how you and Puck have taken to vegan food. Maybe I really will make vegans of you before the summer is out"

"Maybe" Quinn smiled. "Anyway, I'm going to go watch a movie with my mom but text me a time to come over when you've checked it's okay with your dad's, okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning, Quinn"

"See you then"

Rachel giddily found her feet before tearing down stairs to check, or rather tell, the Berry men that Quinn would be joining them on their outing. Of course it was okay with them; they smiled at their daughter and told her they couldn't wait to finally meet the girl they'd heard so much about.

She kissed them both before going back upstairs to get into her bed, it wasn't late but there was no way she was risking looking less than dazzling when she'd be spending the day with Quinn Fabray. She picked her phone up off the nightstand punching off a quick message before turning out her light.

**Rachel: Daddy says wear comfortable shoes and bring your sunscreen. Rachel says bring your appetite and she'll see you at 9:30 :D x**

In her own bed Quinn was smiling to herself as she read Rachel's message. She couldn't believe they were getting along so well and it meant a lot to her that she'd even still consider working past their complicated history. She couldn't explain it but with Rachel it just felt..right, like it should've been this way from the start. Maybe it would've been if she hadn't of blocked out her feelings and pushed everyone away, well, no use in dwelling on the past.

The present was going well and she wasn't going to do anything to mess that up, she quickly wrote a reply before letting herself drift into sleep with a Berry filled future as her last thought.

**Quinn: Flats it is, and I will if you will. No baby oil, Berry! Quinn says Rachel is crazy speaking about herself in the third person but that point is now mute as she's done the same. Your incapability of using short sentences is rubbing off on me D: The horror! 9:30 during summer vacation, you're lucky I want your pancakes :P x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Note: All the reviews and alerts mean the world to me,you guys are amazing! Thank you so much for the continuous support. If you have any input on the direction you want the story to go or mischief you want our 'bros' to get into etc then feel free to tell me so! I value your opinions more than anything :) **

**Rachel: Just checking you're awake, you better not have hit the snooze button! X**

**Quinn: The sound of my stomach grumbling was loud enough to wake me, see you in ten :P x**

Rachel smiled to herself putting her phone down on the counter as she carried on making breakfast, humming as she scooped the blended mixture into the frying pan, tilting like a professional.

She was piling the ice cream into the blender to make their banana shakes when there was a knock at the door, she almost tripped over her own feet as she dashed to throw it open with a smile gracing her face.

"Well look who can't stay away" she joked as she motioned for Quinn to come in. The blonde smiled and nervously let Rachel close the door behind her, she slowly followed behind the shorter girl as she led her into the kitchen.

"Quinn, these are my dad's, Leroy and Hiram" she told her proudly as both men waved and offered her kind smiles in turn. "Daddy, Dad, this is Quinn"

"It's nice to finally meet you" Hiram said taking the hand she was politely offering, "We've heard a lot about you"

Quinn tried not to think what exactly they'd heard but the men were being nothing but warm and welcoming so she allowed herself to remain genuinely smiling at them.

Leroy shook her hand too and tilted his head slightly. "Rachel definitely wasn't kidding when she said you were beautiful, if I wasn't a gay man and I was about twenty five years younger.." he chuckled and Quinn blushed.

"Daddy, quit embarrassing her or I'll slip something into your pancakes"

Leroy held his hands up in defeat, agreeing to behave and motioning for Quinn to take a seat beside him. She put down her bag and climbed onto the bar stool.

"It's nice to finally meet you guys too, Mr Berry..'s"

"There shall be no Mr Berry's here" Hiram told her waggling a finger, "Leroy and Hiram will be fine"

Quinn smiled, surprisingly already at ease around the pair. "Okay, you got it"

"I think I have heartburn" Quinn groaned from the seat next to Rachel in the back of Leroy's car, they'd been driving for about ten minutes when the blonde had started to feel the slight burning sensation in her chest.

"That's what you get when you eat too quickly, Quinn. I swear you were giving Puck a run for his money back there"

"Then stop being such a good cook!"

The Berry men chuckled and Hiram turned around to face the girls.

"We'll stop at the next gas station to get you some antacids okay, honey?" he patted her knee gently before turning back around.

Quinn felt her eyes stinging, they hadn't known her five minutes and they were already taking care of her more than her own father ever did. It made her heart swell and she glanced down to see Rachel patting her hand, she'd obviously picked up on the girl's emotions.

"You okay?" she whispered, Quinn nodded her head offering her a small smile before quickly wiping at her eyes. The Berry men silently watched the exchange, wondering if there was even more to this girl that remained unseen.

They stopped off at the next gas station as promised and by the time they reached the carnival Quinn's heartburn was all forgotten. They parked the car near the entrance before walking to buy their tickets in, the blonde was reaching for her wallet when the Berry men shook their heads at her.

"We've got it, Quinn" Hiram told her with a smile as he quickly paid the vender for four tickets.

"I can pay-"

"Quinn, you'll learn quickly that these two don't take no for an answer once they have their minds set on something" Rachel chuckled patting the girl's arm, resisting the urge to join their hands.

Quinn smiled, "well I guess you had to get it from somewhere"

They wandered into the venue looking around at the brightly coloured tents full of food and games and stalls of people selling their crafts. The Berry men went to watch a man performing magic tricks as Rachel led the blonde over to the fair rides.

"Are you okay, Quinn? You're quiet and you look a little pale"

The blonde was watching a small rollercoaster going round on it's tracks; her palms grew sweaty as she remembered the disastrous theme park trip with Finn. She swallowed, hoping that Rachel didn't want to go on it.

"Hey" Rachel said softly as she took her hand, "I'm not going to make you go on anything you don't want to"

She smiled in silent thanks. "I'm fine with everything it's just, rollercoasters, I can't-"

"I understand, and that ride does not look safe. Come on, you choose a ride"

Soon enough they were buckling themselves in to their seats of the Ferris wheel and Rachel gulped as their carriage started to rise to load other riders into the other carriages. She hadn't had the heart to tell the blonde that she wasn't particularly fond of heights and she just tried to focus on the fact that she was seated next to a smiling Quinn Fabray.

They were almost to the top before either of them said anything, Quinn noticed Rachel seemed nervous and had quite the grip on the bar in front of them. She placed a hand gently on top of one of the trembling diva's and she jumped slightly.

"You should've told me you don't like heights" she chided softly and Rachel's cheeks went slightly pink.

"I didn't want you to have to miss out" she admitted and Quinn smiled at her.

They were at the top of the ride now and it came to a halt, the blonde stared out at the sky surrounding them and unconsciously ran her thumb back and forth across the girl's hand.

"Don't think about how high up we are; forget we're on a ride at all. Just focus on what's around us. Look at the beautiful things we can see, just how far we can see right now"

Rachel swallowed the words that were threatening to spill from her lips; she gazed at Quinn trying desperately to not tell her how hard it was to focus on anything else with her sat by her side.

Quinn chuckled, aware that the diva hadn't looked anywhere else. "You have to look away from me to see what I'm pointing out, Rachel"

"I prefer the view from here" the brunette replied daringly, ducking her head slightly meaning she missed the smile that grazed the blonde's lips.

She raised her head up and the blonde was staring at her in a way that made her feel like she was under the microscope, having every thing about her carefully dissected and analysed.

She noticed that the blonde was even closer than she'd thought and their thighs were almost brushing, a slight breeze swirled in the air making the girl's hair blow in her face and her eyes closed as Quinn delicately tucked it back behind her ear.

The ride started moving forward again slowly and Rachel reopened her eyes, exhaling shakily as their carriage swung slightly.

Quinn was smiling a little more nervously but she still hadn't moved her hand away, for some reason she didn't want to? And her stomach felt jittery, but in a good way.

Rachel's phone bleeped and the diva chuckled as she read the message she'd received, Quinn tried to peep but the diva moved the phone away.

"Hey!" she said playfully, "who's it from?"

"Just Puck" Rachel answered as she hastily closed it, the blonde reached to take the phone but the diva moved it just in time.

"Then show me" she pouted, Rachel chuckled shaking her head.

"Show me or I'll rock the carriage" Quinn said raising an eyebrow, Rachel's eyes grew wide with worry.

"You wouldn't"

"Oh but I would" the blonde said smirking, "now show me"

Rachel didn't have the time to sigh before the phone had been wrestling from her hand, Quinn blinked reading the message.

**Puck: If I miss out on any lesbian action you better fill me in, bro.**

The brunette was hurriedly trying to think what she could use as damage control but it turned out she didn't need to as Quinn's laughter erupted next to her, surprising her and giving her butterflies simultaneously.

She handed the diva her phone back and shook her head, still smiling.

"He has a one track mind that boy. And I don't think anything we've done qualifies" she said lifting their hands.

Rachel tried to shake the disappointment she was feeling, though she knew she'd been close to kissing Quinn minutes previous. Obviously the blonde didn't return her feelings and she knew that, but still, the disappointment existed.

"He's just fishing for gossip cause' he has nothing else going on, but he wants a COD remwatch tonight" the brunette laughed.

Quinn was battling with the strange things she was feeling. She knew that a few more seconds at the top of the Ferris wheel and she'd of leant forward to kiss Rachel, it shocked her but it didn't disgust her like it should. Rachel was beautiful and though Quinn had never thought of herself as anything but straight she knew that the way she'd felt, both past and present, about the diva wasn't exactly what was considered normal. She hadn't singled her out for no reason, there were more unspoken things bubbling under the surface than even she herself knew.

Before she could chicken out she quickly gave her a peck on the lips leaving an amusing surprised expression on the diva's face.

"I-, wha? Um" Rachel was speechless, something that was pretty much unheard of. Quinn chuckled as the ride stopped and she offered the smaller girl a hand to help her out of the carriage.

"Now Puckerman will have a nice titbit to keep him cheery when we beat his ass again"


	8. Chapter 8

The days following the carnival incident were different. There was tension between them, but not bad, it was sexual tension that you could literally cut with a knife.

Rachel's dads were the first to notice it on the ride home when the girls were overly giggly and their hands brushed more than a few times.

Then after the dinner that Quinn stayed for, the girls were dancing around as they helped tidy up and they more than invaded each other's personal spaces, deliberately knocking in to one another and chasing the other girl around the Berry's breakfast bar.

It had been a few days since that dinner and the girls were, of course, at Puck's. They'd beaten him at COD and now he was determined to kick their asses at Guitar Hero.

"Quinn give me the guitar" Rachel whined, "I want to do this song"

The blonde shook her head, smiling and holding the guitar above her head as the shorter girl lunged for it.

"It's my turn, fair's fair" she told her.

Rachel jumped up and down reaching for the guitar to no avail, darn her petite stature.

Quinn laughed. "Rach, give up. You can play it after"

"Yeah, bro" Puck agreed, "let blondie have her turn"

The brunette pouted still trying to reach the guitar, thinking maybe if she could get a hold of the strap she could just pull it from Quinn's grasp.

"I want it now!" she said still jumping around.

Quinn decided to humour Puck and see how much of a scene they could cause.

"Oh you do?" she said quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes" Rachel huffed, Quinn chuckled. She lowered the guitar slightly so Rachel could almost reach it before she suddenly raised it higher in the air again.

"Quinn, please give me the guitar" she said batting her eyelashes up at the taller girl, Quinn smiled in amusement.

"Why?"

"Because I want it!"

"How bad do you want it?" Quinn said taking a step closer to Rachel, the guitar still being held above her head.

Rachel's eyes drifted very briefly to the blonde's lips before she narrowed her eyes.

"I swear if you two don't kiss soon.." Puck murmured but they didn't hear.

The diva smiled sweetly before tiptoeing to reply, "really bad"

Quinn didn't have time to say anything else before Rachel jumped at her and they both went toppling back onto Puck's bed, Puck stared at them from the other end just silently praying that one of the girls would stop being so chicken shit and just make a move.

Rachel stared down at Quinn and brushed a stray hair away from her face, she smiled before grabbing the guitar from where it had fell and she leant down so her mouth was near the blonde's ear.

"Told you" she whispered before smirking and jumping up to play Foreigner's Hot Blooded, will the full intent of kicking Puck's butt.

Quinn stayed in the position she'd fell into. Her heart was racing ten to the dozen and her throat had gone dry as soon as Rachel's body draped over her when they fell. It was perfect, Rachel was feather light yet Quinn still felt safe somehow.

"Fabray are you still with us?" Puck asked when they were nearly half way through the song.

"I think so, what are the signs of a heart attack?" she jokingly asked as her heart remained thumping a little faster than usual.

"If you need mouth to mouth I'm sure Rachel will- OW!" Rachel cut Puck off by poking the end of her controller sharply into his rib, it didn't really hurt him it just shocked him and threw him off the game.

Rachel finished her song, somehow beating Puck, probably with her dirty tactics, before turning her full attention back to the blonde who was still lay across the boy's bed.

"Now, what were you saying about a heart attack?" she said kneeling next to Quinn who looked up to her before pulling her awkwardly over her.

"This is not comfortable" Rachel laughed as she turned her head to the side to look at the blonde again.

"Hmm, it's not so bad. Can never go wrong with a human blanket" Quinn smiled. "Anyway, back to my heart attack. I'm fairly certain I'm having one, or I'm on my way to one"

"And why is that?" Rachel asked amusedly, the blonde pulled the girl's hand from her side until it rested on her chest. Rachel blinked as she felt the racing heart beat beneath her palm.

They locked eyes and for a few seconds it was as if everything around them melted away leaving them the only two people in existence. Quinn gulped as her hand moved its way over Rachel's arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its path; she got to the girl's shoulder and pushed slightly to silently get her hint across. The smaller girl took the hint and carefully readjusted herself over Quinn's body, by this point Puck had long since left the room to give them some privacy, though they hadn't noticed.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked shakily, as if she was giving the blonde a last chance to back out.

She smiled and gently stroked the brunette's cheek.

"Don't wait any longer" she whispered,the diva shivering slightly.

Rachel quickly pushed her hair behind her ears before leaning down to gently press her lips to Quinn's.

As soon as their lips touched it was like fireworks exploded between them, bursts of colour behind their eyelids and warmth swirling throughout their bodies.

The brunette gently pulled back with her eyes still closed, feeling like she'd quite literally had her breath stolen from her.

She was opening her eyes when Quinn started sitting up, gently tipping Rachel beside her before sitting over the smaller girl.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted this" Rachel murmured as Quinn sweetly cupped her cheek.

"I think I've wanted it a lot longer than I'll admit to, Rachel" she said before leaning down to connect their lips again.

It started out gentle but quickly grew more passionate, lots of breathing into each other's mouths and humming approval and contentment as their tongues touched for the first time, both girls wondering how they'd lasted this long without it.

"Are you two gonna have sex on my bed?" Puck asked from the doorway, a massive grin etched on his face as he watched the two slightly flushed girls pull apart and stare at him trying desperately to smooth their hair and appear more coherent.

"We'd never do that" Rachel stated matter of factly as she grinned right back at him.

"Yeah" Quinn agreed, "the flame covered sheets just don't do it for me"

Puck rolled his eyes strolling into his room to sit on the bed beside them; he leaned back onto his arms before tilting his head to the side to smirk at them.

"So bro, was that better than you dreamed?"

Rachel blushed as Quinn raised an eyebrow at her with a smile.

"It beat the hell out of any dream" she said biting her lip slightly.

Puck laughed. "It's about fucking time you two figured this out, I swear I was getting convinced that I was gonna have to ask Rachel's dads permission to drive you two somewhere and leave you there until you caved and talked about feelings and shit or just jumped each other"

"Well" Quinn started as she gently slipped her hand into Rachel's, "we've still got to talk about the 'feelings and shit' as you put it, but we've done a little jumping"

Rachel giggled and squeezed the blonde's hand a little. "The little jumping started at that carnival, god bless my fear of heights"

Puck snorted before making his bro air five him.

"Now, can you two keep your mouths off each other or are you forfeiting the epic Guitar Hero battle?"

"Ha! In your dreams, Puckerman" Rachel said grabbing the controller but not before planting another one on Quinn who smiled goofily as she watched her attempt to keep her eyes on the screen and hands on the controller as she lightly ran her fingers down the brunette's back.

The Guitar Hero battle was certainly epic, and they lost, epically.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a week since Rachel and Quinn kissed for the first time and both they, Puck and both of Rachel's dad's were sat around the table eating a dinner they'd all helped make. Well, except Puck, who was,as always,merely a taste tester.

"Leroy, Hiram, sorry for what I'm about to say, but can you two please stop eye fucking each other? We are here you know"

Both Rachel and Quinn flushed pink as they stared down at their plates, Leroy and Hiram hiding their amusement behind their napkins.

"Sorry" the girls murmured as they continued poking at the salads.

"It's hott" Puck said, "but you're distracting me from my food"

"Always thinking about your stomach" Rachel chuckled.

"And you're always thinking about Quinn's mouth"

The brunette frowned and kicked him under the table, accidentally getting her daddy instead.

"Ouch!" Hiram said as he rubbed at his knee, Rachel sent him an apologetic look and he smiled as he shook his head.

"Sorry daddy that was meant for Captain Sarcastic here"

Puck grinned and raised an eyebrow, "Bro if I wanted to be sarcastic I'd of said that you _never _think about Quinn's mouth"

The blonde put her head down on the table before looking back up to the amused expressions of the Berry men.

"Can we please stop talking about my mouth now? I might die of embarrassment"

Rachel blew her a kiss and mouthed a sorry; Quinn smiled back and told her it was okay.

"Yes, let's have no more embarrassment at the dinner table" Leroy nodded.

"Don't worry honey" Hiram said in Quinn's direction as he sliced the last of what was on his plate, "you're safe until we think you and Rachel are in need of the talk"

Quinn started to choke on the water she was sipping; Leroy patted her on the back as she spluttered.

"If you haven't noticed, Quinn and I lack the necessary equipment that would require such a talk" Rachel said smiling way too much as her fathers chuckled.

"Just cause' you're both girls doesn't mean you get to dodge the sex talk, Rach. Sorry, Quinn. But it'd be hypocritical if we didn't" Leroy explained.

"But" the brunette started to protest.

"Rach" Quinn said gently as she reached out, her hand covering a smaller tan one. "Your dads are right, besides just cause' I'm a girl doesn't mean they don't worry about me being good for you"

Rachel pouted and Puck rolled his eyes.

"Bro, they're thinking of you. Besides, what happened to no sex til' you were 25?"

Rachel smirked, "none of you were a blonde cheerleader with legs for days and kisses that make me-"

Quinn quickly stood leaning over the table to cover the brunette's mouth before she could get any further.

"If you want to keep getting those kisses keep that lovely mouth closed"

"Rachel, you can't use that word" Quinn sighed as Rachel spelled out yet another inappropriate word on the Scrabble board, said brunette pouting at this.

"Quinn, it's just a word, it's your mind that's creating the illusion that it is some what inappropriate"

Puck shook his head at the two of them as he and the Berry men continued their game of Poker.

"Aphrodisiac IS inappropriate!" the blonde said raising her voice slightly, "you already got told at the start of the game that you couldn't use the words you've been using"

"It is just a word" Rachel stated nonchalantly, secretly enjoying winding her girlfriend up. She'd already managed to spell lust, tongue and squirm.

"Rachel, sweetheart, stop winding Quinn up" Leroy told her, smiling as he collected his win.

The brunette sighed and dramatically pushed all the lettered tiles off the board.

"Fine, Scrabble's boring me anyway"

"Uh huh" Quinn said smiling as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Sarcastic"

"Deserving"

"Mean"

"Honest"

"Ooh, I just love wordplay" Rachel almost purred as she smirked at the blonde who was now turning pink.

A muttering of 'mailman' was heard from over the other side of the room; Puck was quickly shrugging into his jacket and saying his goodbyes.

Quinn sighed before pulling herself up to her feet.

"I better be going too" she said biting her lip, Rachel pouted instantly.

"Can't you stay?"

The blonde chuckled slightly.

"I stayed last night, sweetie. I don't want you to get sick of me"

Rachel jumped to her feet and caressed the taller girl's cheek before planting a sweet peck to her nose.

"Baby that could never happen"

"Maybe I just want to actually get some sleep tonight" she teased.

"Totally pretending we didn't hear that" Hiram said as they started packing away what was left of their poker tournament.

Quinn threw her arms in the air, rather Rachel Berry-like, as she let loose an exasperated 'GAH!'

"Not talking about that, at all! Sheesh, you guys are killing me tonight"

The Berry men laughed running over to give her a quick hug before leaving the girls to it.

The brunette wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's petite waist, gazing up at her with a smile.

"You look so adorable when you get so embarrassed"

Quinn pushed a stray hair away from the smaller girl's face before smiling back and draping her arms around her neck.

"So that's why you've been making embarrassing me a habit" she smiled.

"Please stay" Rachel said simply as she pressed a sweet kiss to Quinn's collarbone, the blonde running her hands through her hair before pausing.

"I can't, I'm telling my mom tonight"

Rachel's eyes grew wide and she pulled back slightly to look up at Quinn who was smiling at her surprised expression.

"Quinn, are-are you sure? I know you're worried and we haven't been together very lo-"

Quinn gently put a hand over the girl's mouth.

"I'm positive. Rach, we haven't been together long but" she took a gulp of air, "but I have a feeling that we will be. I want us to be together for a long time and I feel like you want that too"

Rachel smiled warmly and cupped the blonde's face.

"I do" she whispered, "You can't get rid of me, Fabray"

"Good" Quinn whispered back before briefly pressing their lips together. "Because you're stuck with me"

"Great, because I have some words that will come in super handy the next time we play Scrabble" she grinned devilishly.

Quinn shook her head. "Noooope" she said tapping Rachel on the nose with her finger, "we are never playing that game again if you're going to be mean"

"Okay then. Next game night, we're playing poker"

"Fine by me"

"Clothing optional"

Quinn laughed and rolled her eyes before pulling her arms away from her girlfriend.

"Rachel Berry stop trying to get me naked!" she chided light-heartedly.

The brunette shrugged her shoulders and smirked.

"Can't blame a girl for trying, especially with that ass I mean-"

Quinn quickly covered her mouth as she heard the Berry men chuckling in the kitchen.

"Behave. Or am I going to have to gag you?" Rachel wiggled her eyebrows and Quinn groaned inwardly at the innuendo she'd managed to create.

"You've been hanging around Puck too much; it's turning into hormones r us around here"

"Just because you apparently don't have them" Rachel joked as she pouted.

"Oh I have them" she stated as she placed her mouth next to the brunette's ear, "you wouldn't believe the things that went through my head when I was pregnant, you in those damn skirts"

She pulled back smiling as Rachel shivered.

"Great, you only want me when you're knocked up"

"Rachel" Quinn said swallowing thickly as she stared down into warm brown orbs, "I want you, okay. I want you so much that it scares me. I'm clueless when it comes to..that, but I'd give myself to you in a second if you asked, but I want things to happen when the timing is right, not a week after kissing for the first time and starting a new relationship"

She laced their fingers together and looked to the brunette; dare she say it, lovingly?

"Besides, you deserve a special first time and I intend on giving you that, if and when you want me to"

Rachel had tears in her eyes; the amount of care that was shining through Quinn's words was making her stomach perform flips. She knew they'd avoided their physical attraction for quite a while but, this all seemed like so much more now.

"After that little speech it's hard to not want to give myself to you" she chuckled as she wiped at her eyes.

Quinn chuckled too, giving her a quick peck on the lips before kissing her hand too.

"I can be charming" she smiled.

"You can indeed. And thank you, for wanting to tell your mom. It means a lot that you aren't ashamed of me, of us"

"I'm not ready to tell the world, Rach, but I don't want to treat you like some kind of dirty secret. I'd like my mom to be able to be happy for me, she's really changed and I'm hoping that I don't end up having to crash on someone's couch after tonight"

Rachel pulled the taller girl against her tightly before pulling away and looking at her seriously.

"If your mother decides to lose you again then I'll be furious, and sad that she's so uncaring. I hope she takes it well but if anything happens you come right back here, okay? Promise me"

Quinn smiled as the brunette held out her jacket for her to shrug into.

"I promise, Rach"

"Good" Rachel smiled sweetly. "Now get out of here, my Scrabble brilliance is wreaking havoc on my imagination"


	10. Author Message

Hey guys I'm really sorry for the lack of updates but I'm officially on hiatus due to personal issues.

I have a lot going on currently and I've been a frequent visitor to the hospital's emergency department lately, but between those visits I did go to Glee Live and managed to meet Dianna, Cory, Darren and Mark!

Thank you so much for being patient and continuing to read, review and subscribe. Hopefully I'll get back on my feet asap and be writing regularly again in no time! xo


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